CNN Claims DeSantis Is Hurting His 2024 Chances This Week

This week, he hurt his chances for 2024, CNN claimed Wednesday.

Without looking further into the headline, both Republicans and Democrats would assume CNN is referring to President Joe Biden, whose support has plummeted every since the disaster in Afghanistan began. However, that assumption would be wrong. CNN isn't referring to Biden. Instead, CNN is currently telling its viewers that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hurting his presidential chances in 2024.

"Ron DeSantis' 2024 road just hit a major Covid-19 bump," CNN put on its homepage:

"Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been seen as a champion of fighting Covid-19 by Republicans — despite extreme surges in the state," the network says. "In the latest episode of The Point, CNN's Chris Cillizza explores how, beyond the human toll, DeSantis's approach to the virus could also hurt his presidential chances in 2024."

Will you be watching The Point? Have you ever heard of The Point?

It's not hard to envision CNN's staff before hitting publish, trying to figure out a way to take some of the attention off Biden. New poll numbers from Rasmussen Reports suggest nearly 1 in 10 Democrats regret their vote in the 2020 presidential election. American voters view Biden today significantly worse than they did two weeks ago. Meaning, if Biden slips, it raises the chances that a top Republican candidate will get elected.

The latest odds for 2024 have DeSantis correctly ranked fourth, behind Biden, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump. In other words, DeSantis's chances did not decline this week, but likely went up along with Donald Trump's.

It does appear, though, CNN and MSNBC have comfortably shifted their focus to DeSantis. The two networks first tried to replace Trump with Tucker Carlson, and both channels then spent a weird amount of air time calling Carlson a racist. Well, that didn't work -- the ratings collapsed badly at both networks.

DeSantis is a better target anyway. He is a politician, not a TV host. But DeSantis hasn't given the media much to spin negatively. The TV networks even had to make up scandals to hit DeSantis where they like to aim.

CBS aired an hour-long hit piece claiming — without any proof — that DeSantis was funneling the state's coronavirus vaccines to the rich. That was a lie. Far-left race-baiter Joy Reid has now tied DeSantis to a sex trafficking ring, claimed he is "murdering children," and that states like his only keep black people alive to cook white people steaks. These people are sick but persistent.

Furthermore, the events of Afghanistan will have a longer-lasting effect on voters than COVID cases in Florida. If COVID surges in Florida in August 2021 is the best they have against DeSantis come the fall of 2024, that's a win for DeSantis.

I will admit, CNN's homepage gives the network a distinguishable identity. Not even Slate, the New York Times, The Ringer, or the Washington Post are shameless enough to proclaim this week hurt DeSantis' -- not Biden's -- chances in 2024.